"Pilot Aid Using a Synthetic Environment", Ser. No. 08/274,394 filed Jul. 11, 1994. "Digital Map Generator and Display System", Ser. No. 08/543,590, filed Oct. 16, 1995.
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the field of remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
2. Discussion of Prior Art
RPVs can be used for any number of purposes. For example, there is a large organization that promotes the use of remote controlled planes. Certain RPVs are controlled by viewing the plane with the naked eye and using a hand held controller to control its flight Other RPVs are controlled by a remote pilot using simple joysticks while watching the video produced by a camera in the remote aircraft. This camera is also used to produce the reconnaissance video. There are tradeoffs involving the resolution of the video, the rate at which the video is updated, and the bandwidth needed to transmit it. The wider the bandwidth the more difficult it is to secure the signal. The freedom to balance these tradeoffs is limited because this video is also used to pilot the aircraft and must therefore be updated frequently.
Certain UAVs are preprogrammed to follow a predetermined course and lack the flexibility to deal with unexpected situations.
The 1983 patent to Kanaly (U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,943) shows a control and communications system for a remotely piloted vehicle where an oculometer determines where the remote operator is looking and signals the remote vehicle to send the high resolution imagery corresponding to the area around where the remote operator is looking and low resolution imagery corresponding to the remote operator's peripheral vision. The objective is to minimize the bandwidth of the information transmitted to the remote operator.